Benefits of PMAY

Food, clothing and shelter are often cited as the three basic necessities of life. But with the ever-rising property rates, most people find it extremely difficult to afford the third necessity – shelter. This is why, when the Narendra Modi led government announced the PMAY scheme that provides affordable, homes for all sections of the society, it became the talk of the town.

What is PMAY?

The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana or PMAY scheme was launched in June 2015 with the intention to help members from all sections of the society to become homeowners. The scheme comes with interest rate subsidies for purchasing 'pucca' or concrete homes, thereby eliminating slums especially from urban areas. Let's look at the benefits of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Affordable housing for all: The PMAY scheme is a futuristic scheme under which the government shall construct over 2 crore homes in the country's urban areas. All flats constructed will typically be 1 BHK flats for single families to live comfortably. The basic idea behind this scheme is to uplift the standard of living in cities.

Applicants can benefit from interest subsidies: The greatest benefit of PMAY is that the government offers subsidies for purchasing a brand new house. However, this benefit is only extended to those who are not home-owners and fall within certain income groups and sections of the society. Individuals belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS), lower income groups (LIG), mid-income groups (MIG) etc. can benefit from this scheme which is also a credit-linked subsidy scheme. For instance

For applicants falling under EWS and LIG categories, the home loan interest rate is subsidised by 6.5% with loan tenure of 20 years.

The MIG category is further divided into MIG 1 and MIG 2 and applicants belonging to the former category are eligible for home loan interest rates subsided by 4% on a loan amount of ?9 lakhs whereas those belonging to the latter category are eligible for home loan interest rates subsided by 3% on a loan amount of ?12 lakhs. The tenure for both categories is 20 years.

The scheme considers women applicants, senior citizens and minorities: Another benefit of PMAY scheme is that it encourages women to become homeowners. As per the scheme, female ownership is a compulsory clause and a male applicant must register his wife as a co-applicant even if she is not purchasing the property. Furthermore, this scheme is also open to minorities including but not limited to widows, members of transgender communities, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. Senior citizens can also apply under this scheme and receive assured accommodation on the ground floor keeping their age and comfort in mind.